Activating the Power of God Series - No. 2

No.2: The Power of the Presence of God

Today's post is a continuation of the series about Activating the Power of God in our lives as believers in Christ. In today's post, I will focus on how to activate the power of the presence of God in every area of your life. To begin, I would like to dwell briefly on the significant role that the Ark of the Covenant, a symbol of the physical presence of the Most High God, played in the lives of God's people in the ancient times. We read about the construction of the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25: 10-22. A deep study of the scriptures reveal how the leaders of ancient Israel relied immensely on the Ark whenever they faced insurmountable situations as we read in Joshua 3 during the crossing of the Jordan and in Joshua 6 during the fall of Jericho. While on one hand the Ark brought victory for God's people, on the other hand the Ark unleashed destruction upon the enemies of God's people. This was always the case as long as the children of God kept His commandments and lived according to the terms of His covenant with them. When the Israelites failed to obey God, not only did they fail to be victorious over their enemies but they also suffered enormous loss of lives as we read in 1 Samuel 4. In 1 Samuel chapters 5 - 7 we read of the terrible things which happened to the Philistines after they captured the Ark of the Covenant. We read below:

And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.  (2)  When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.....(6)  But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.  (7)  And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.  (8)  They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.  (9)  And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.  (10)  Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.  (11)  So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.  (12)  And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.             1Sa 5:1-2; 6-12 KJV  (Please read 1 Samuel 6 and 7 as well).  

The presence of the Ark on a foreign land brought judgement upon the Philistines because they were a people who were alienated from God. The disaster which befell the Philistine was a clear indication of God's wrath for the wrong handling of the Ark, which symbolized His presence.

Beloved in Christ, God is a holy God and if you have chosen to live as His child by putting your faith in His son Jesus then you are part of the new covenant through the blood of Jesus as we read in the following scriptures:

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins - Mat 26:28 KJV

Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. - Luk 22:20 KJV

 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. - Heb 13:20-21 KJV

It is upon the basis of the new covenant in the blood of Jesus that the power in the presence of God can be activated. But there is more, just as sin brought the wrath of God upon anyone who touched the Ark with unholy hands, this covenant requires us to live holy lives without which we will not be able to activate God's presence in our lives. I do not see how you can have a clean bath and after that continue to wear dirty clothes. In Psalm 24:3-4 we read:

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. (Psa 24:3-4 KJV)

Beloved in Christ, when we commit our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ we also need to be robed in righteousness. Allowing sin to reign in our lives grieves the Holy Spirit and prevents us from seeing the power of the presence of God in our lives. The reason many of us Christians fail to experience the power of God is because we have not allowed God to be at the center of our lives. Have you made Christ the center of your life? If so, then know that you have the right to activate the power of God through His presence. Let's read the following scriptures which shed light on the power in the presence of God:

"And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" (Exo 33:14 KJV)

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psa 16:11 KJV)

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psa 91:1 KJV)

 "When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence" (Psa 9:3 KJV)

"As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God" (Psa 68:2 KJV)

As the above scriptures reveal, the presence of God gives us rest and provides us with fullness of joy. It also allows us to receive God's protection as the Psalmist points out in Psalm 91:1. In addition, the presence of God can cause your enemies to perish or cause them to fail in their plans against you. I don't know about you, but I cannot see how I could have made it this far without activating the power of the presence of the Most High God in my own life. Sometimes, some of us Christians are tempted to trust in our own strength and wisdom alone to make it through this live. But dear Christian friend, don't solely depend on your own strength nor on your own understanding but rather, completely trust in the strength of God to enable you to make it through this life. The following scriptures make it clear:

"He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail."  (1Sa 2:9 KJV)

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding"
(Pro 3:5 KJV)

If you would place God at the center of your life, you have every right, through the blood of the eternal covenant, to activate the power of the presence of God in any and every situation confronting you. I hope you take the limits off of God and begin to experience His power in your life. 

Stay blest